A Pile of Straws on a Camels Back
by CSICowboy
Summary: Nick is tired of being made fun of and being decredited. So he does something about it. No pairings as of yet. Please rr. Rating is probably high. Warning POSSIBLE character death.
1. Late Again

A/N: Okay this one is kinda sad, just a warning.

Disclaimers: Don't own it.

Summary: The last straw.

Nick sat down on his couch. He laid his head back and sighed. He sat up and flipped on the television. He lay down on the couch and sipped the beer in his hand.

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Nick woke up to the sound of his cell phone. He pulled it out from his jeans pocket and pressed the talk button.

"Stokes," he said into the phone.

"Nick, where are you?" Grissom's voice came through the phone.

"At my house," Nick replied hesitantly.

"Why aren't you at work?" Grissom asked.

"Huh?" Nick asked glancing at his watch, "Shit! Ok, I'll be there in 40 minutes."

"Yeah," Grissom replied before hanging up.

Nick sat up quickly. _Not a good idea_, he thought as pain seized through his back.

He quickly got off the couch and dashed to the bathroom. He stripped off his clothes and jumped into the shower. He was in and out in less than 5 minutes.

He walked to his room and dug out a pair of jeans and a shirt from his dresser. He tugged on some boxers then the jeans and shirt. He threw the towel onto the ground and grabbed his cell phone, CSI vest, and his gun and he was out the door.

He jogged up to his Tahoe and reached for the door handle. He yanked on it, but it wouldn't open.

"Damn it," he whispered harshly as he dug his hand into his jeans pocket for the keys. When he didn't find them there he dashed back into his apartment and rummaged for the keys. 5 minutes later he finally found them under the sofa.

He jogged back out side, by this time out of breath, and opened the Tahoe. He started up the engine and pulled out of the driveway. It took him under 10 minutes to get to the crime lab.

He parked his Tahoe and hopped out. He practically ran to the entrance and walked past the receptionist's desk.

He kept walking until he reached Grissom's office. With a deep breath he knocked on the door.

"Come in," came Grissom's muffled voice.

Nick opened the door and stepped inside.

A/N: If you haven't figured it out by now, Nick is my absolute favorite CSI. I probably wouldn't be watching CSI anymore if I hadn't happened to see the cute guy standing off to the right hand side of the screen in "Chaos Theory." Anyway, sorry this chapter was short and didn't really go along with the summary, but wait til the next one. It will be up soon, I just had to post this one tonight, or this chappy would've included the stuff in the next one, sorry I'm rambling. Anyway, please review, and I hope you like it so far.


	2. Crash!

Grissom looked up as Nick walked in the door. He looked tense and kind of afraid. Grissom sighed.

Nick studied Grissom. He could never quite tell what the man was feeling. He closed the door gently behind him and cautiously walked further into the room.

"Sit down," Grissom commanded in a calm tone.

Nick complied and sat in the chair in front of the desk. He knew very well that this meeting could end in yelling and shouting. This was the fourth time this month he'd been late for work.

Grissom knew Nick had been struggling with the events of Nigel Crane and Kristy Hopkins these past few months, but thought that four times in one month was a little to much.

Grissom prepared himself.

"Nick, this is the fourth time this month you have been late for work," he said.

_You think I don't know that,_ Nick thought angrily, but stayed quiet.

There was a long pause before Grissom started again.

"I can't have you being late for work that often," Grissom said.

Nick kept quiet.

Nick's silence was puzzling Grissom. The past three times this had happened Nick had come in apologizing and making up excuses and promising it wouldn't happen again.

Nick had come up with the conclusion that making excuses and promises wouldn't work. This wasn't going to stop. His problems weren't just going to fly away, so he stayed quiet.

Grissom studied Nick for the first time since he had walked in. The young man had dark circles around his eyes from lack of sleep. His hair was mussed up and he was slumped in his chair. If the chair hadn't been there he probably would be sitting on the floor from sheer exhaustion.

Grissom let up some. It wasn't entirely Nick's fault he was late. Grissom realized he had worked four doubles in a row this week, plus Grissom had made him finish the ever growing pile of paperwork on his desk.

Nick stared at Grissom, wondering how long he would keep him here.

Grissom sighed, "Nick, you need to take better care of yourself."

Nick snapped at that, "I can take care of myself just fine."

Grissom hadn't meant to say that out loud and knew it would cause an argument.

"Nick…" Grissom started.

"I don't have to take this shit!" Nick interrupted, raising the volume level.

"Nick calm down," Grissom demanded.

"You know what?" Nick asked.

Not waiting for a reply he said, "You can cut slack for everyone else. When Warrick gambled on the job, when Sara got that DUI, when Catherine comes in late, but the four times I come in late you practically chop my head off!"

Nick was now yelling. A couple of lab techs had their heads stuck out into the hallway, trying to find the source of the tremendous amount of noise.

Grissom had no reply for Nick, and Nick wasn't expecting one. Nick stormed out of his office and out of the building.

Grissom sighed and sat down at his desk. He was thinking about the last thing Nick had said when Warrick walked in.

Warrick had heard the commotion all the way from the ballistics lab. He walked into the room and sat down in the seat Nick had previously occupied.

"That was loud," Warrick commented.

Grissom nodded.

"You think he'll be okay?" Warrick asked.

"He will be," Grissom replied uneasily.

Warrick nodded, not totally convinced.

"So did you get any prints off that gun?" Grissom said, already back to business.

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_I can't believe him,_ Nick thought.

He was driving down the Strip, trying to push the conversation he'd just had out of his mind.

He turned on the radio and kept driving.

About two minutes later he heard the faint sound of police sirens. He thought nothing of it and kept driving.

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The sirens were really loud as he stopped and waited for the light to change. They seemed to be getting really close.

The light turned green and he started to turn. As he reached the middle of the intersection a speeding car came into view. It was headed right for him!

Nick didn't have enough time to get out of the way and the other car smashed into his Tahoe. The impact sent the Tahoe rolling and tumbling to the other side of the road and down into the ditch.

As the cop cars reached the intersection they found a smashed car and a bunch of debris. The officer that had been right behind the speeding car had seen the Tahoe roll into the ditch and ordered some of the officers to check on the driver.

Other officers checked on the man in the speeding car. Paramedics arrived five minutes later and pronounced him dead.

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The officers down in the ditch didn't believe anyone could've survived the crash. As the stared at the vehicle one of the officers realized it was department issued. This speeded things up a bit. The rescue team arrived with the "Jaws of Life" and carefully began cutting of the top of the vehicle.

As the roof was pulled off the vehicle the bloodstained interior was revealed. The rescue team quickly and carefully pulled out the man. The paramedics had a stretcher ready and he was loaded onto it. They got the man as stabilized as they could and then loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and shipped him off to the hospital.

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A/N: Okay that is two chapters down, the next one will probably be the last, WARNING: **POSSIBLE **character death. Please review, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


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